President Bola Tinubu on Monday said that the stampedes recently experienced during palliative distributions across the country were due to poor organisations.
The president, who said this during his first media chat, also attributed the mishaps to indiscipline on the part of the beneficiaries of the palliatives.
Palliative distributions in Ibadan, Anambra and the Federal Capital Territory recently resulted in stampedes, with no fewer than 60 lives lost to the incidents.
“Are we looking at it from organisers’ point of view or are you looking at it from the goodwill gesture of the people trying to give out whatever they have?
“It is very sad that people are not well-organised. We just have to be more disciplined in our society,” the president said.
Although Tinubu commiserated with those who lost their family members, he, however, said that the stampedes could have been avoided.
“I have been giving out foodstuffs, commodities, clothing and envelopes for the past 25 years. I’ve never experienced this kind of incident because we are organised.
“We have to be disciplined as a country. If you don’t have enough to give, don’t attempt to even give or publicise it.
“Every society, even in America and Britain, they have food banks. They have hungry people. They have warehouses, but they are organised; they take tokens to be on the line to collect,” he said.
He likened the stampedes to what what usually happens at bus stops in the country where people don’t want to be on the queue.
“It is very sad, but it is an opportunity to learn from our mistakes. To me, I see this as a very grave error on the part of the organisers. But things are improving. It doesn’t kill our happiness for this season,” Tinubu said.
Tax reform is here to stay – Tinubu
President Bola Tinubu said, in his maiden media chat on Monday, that the tax reforms bill before the National Assembly had come to stay.
The President said his administration must retool the economy and that he had the capacity to focus on what the country needed.
“We cannot continue to do what we were doing yesteryears in today’s economy; we cannot retool this economy with the old groping bolts.
“I believe I have that capacity; I am focussed on what Nigeria needs and what I must do for Nigerians.
“It will not be Eldorado for everybody but a new dawn is here. I am convinced and you should be convinced too,” said Tinubu.
He assured Nigerians that inflation currently at 34 per cent would trend downward to 10 per cent as envisaged in the 2025 budget.
He said the government would, improve security so that people could return to their farms and produce more food, and encourage procurement and manufacturing of drugs.
Tinubu said he understood the trouble Nigerians had been through, particularly the economic problems.
He, however, said the country was on the right path. “We are focussed, we’ll maintain focus. Let’s believe in ourselves and in our country, tomorrow will bring a glorious dawn.
“It is just 18 months I’ve taken the reign. 2025 is a very promising year.”
The President thanked Nigerians for having confidence in him to be their president.
“I’m very proud of that. I don’t want you to think that I will take it for granted at any given time. It is all about service. I will do it with all my heart. I seek your cooperation all the time,” said Tinubu.